


In Memory

by onlydaisy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Parent Tony Stark, Sad and Happy, Wakes & Funerals, Widowed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-27 11:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18738001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlydaisy/pseuds/onlydaisy
Summary: *MAJOR MAJOR ENDGAME SPOILERS*After the death of Earth's best defender, the whole world mourns.





	In Memory

**Author's Note:**

> I'm ignoring the fact that I badly need to update my other fic, because I more badly need to work through my endgame grief first.

It’s undeniable that the death of half the universe’s population shook the world. Recovery was impossible. Five years after the fact, there were still so many wounds to be healed. Hope had been lost. After being at an all-time high, it was gone. With the snap of a finger. In the 10 years before the snap, hope had been greater than ever before. It had all started with those simple words.

“I am Iron Man.”

Tony Stark started a new kind of hope, never seen before. He instilled a feeling of safety, a feeling of protection, a feeling that the Earth was worth fighting for and that it would be fought for. This only increased over the years. Tony Stark started something. Something bigger than him, or anything. What started as just Iron Man became the Avengers, and then so much more. The world had a defense system. And the world knew it.

That’s why, after the snap, everything reached a new low.

The Avengers had been defeated, for the first time. Half the world was killed. Tony Stark was missing for a month and came back a different man. Iron Man was no longer, and with him the core holding the Avengers together. That’s when hope was really lost. The world knew there was nothing left to be done, no one left to be saved, no one left to do the saving.

It was all hopeless.

Everyone knew it.

Except. _Except._ It wasn’t. No one knew when the Avengers reformed. No one knew when they started planning. They _did_ know, however, when the lost four billion people reappeared in front of their eyes.

That day was the most surreal of them all. As easily as they had disappeared, everyone reappeared again. As if they had never left, never aged a day, never missed a moment. There were teary reunions all around. It hit the news stations quickly; the whole world was in celebration.

It wasn’t long before the dust settled and the reality set in. Sacrifices had been made to bring back all our loved ones.

One big sacrifice, in particular.

Tony Stark had laid his life down to bring back everyone and protect us from Thanos again. It was the biggest sacrifice that could’ve been given, and the world descended into mourning. For days, the world stood still. Celebration dwindling into mourning. The happiness from everyone returning was pulled away just as quickly, with a slap in the face to remind the world that nothing comes without consequences.

There was a private funeral, for close friends and family. Not broadcasted. It didn’t need to be. Everyone had their own ways of paying tribute. Memorials started popping up, all over the world, in every country. Graffiti of Tony. Graffiti of Iron Man. Messages of thanks. Messages of loss. In New York, you couldn’t walk a block without seeing a reminder of what had happened, what Tony had done for the world. How he had saved everyone.

There was an official public memorial, once his family was ready. There had already been millions held worldwide, but this was big. Official. Crowds upon crowds of people flooded to see it. Everyone that couldn’t in person was streaming it in some way or another. There were very few eyes that weren’t glued to the events of that day.

It was hard enough to watch for the people that hadn’t known Tony. His family could barely get through it.

“Tony Stark was the greatest hero of our time,” the service opened with James Rhodes, Tony’s best friend, “of any time. Past, present or future. Time and time again he’s put himself at risk for the greater good, to ensure the safety of any number of people, no matter how big or small, significant or insignificant, personal or impersonal. None of that mattered to Tony. If you needed saving, then he’d do whatever he could to save you. He’s saved me, alone, more times than I can count.”

“I know at least half of you watching owe your lives to him.”

“The world is a worse place without him, and I know no one will ever be able to live up to his legacy. I also know that Tony wouldn’t want us to mourn like this. Of course, he’d love the attention.” There were a few bitter laughs from the family to the side of the stage, but there were more tears. “But he would want the world to move on. He’d say that this was what was meant to happened, what needed to happen. And maybe he’s right, but that doesn’t mean this is fair. None of it is. But he wouldn’t want us to linger on that. He’d want us to celebrate his life, his accomplishments. Most importantly, what he’s left behind.” A small glance to the side of the stage sended everyone’s eyes following. To the familiar Pepper Potts, a less familiar girl sat on her lap, too young to fully understand what’s going on. The heavy heartbreak felt worldwide rests on this girl’s shoulders. It will be years before Morgan Stark understands what her dad did, how he impacted the world.

“For Tony’s sake, after today, don’t mourn what we’ve lost with him. Celebrate what we have because of him. It’s exactly what he would want, and what we all need.”

After Rhodes finished, it took a moment for the next speaker to compose herself. She hands off her daughter to the boy sat next to her and comes up to the stage. Pepper Potts. Tony’s wife. Tony’s widow.

“I wish I could say I knew Tony before he was in the spotlight, but there hasn’t been a moment of his life that wasn’t in the spotlight. That’s who he was and who he’ll always be, and it shaped him in every way it could. I knew him long before he was Iron Man, though. I was lucky enough to see him become the man he was when he died, up close. I’m lucky to have ever known him, and to have had the time that I did have with him, and that we got to have a daughter together despite everything that happened along the way. My husband was a dedicated man, even to a fault. Ever since that first attack in New York, he couldn’t rest until he knew the world was safe. He risked everything to go back in and bring everyone back, but he did it anyway. It cost him his life. But he finally accomplished what he’d always been trying to do. Tony Stark saved the Earth. We’re safe. Now, he can finally rest.” 

It was Steve Rogers’ turn next. Captain America. Dressed down, compared to the usual get-up the world was used to seeing.

“Tony and I didn’t have a great start. He had a justified hatred; I was just a bitter old man. I’d heard things about him, I’d known his dad and assumed the worst.” That got a few scattered chuckles. “We were thrown into the Avengers together, and completely rubbed each other the wrong way. I definitely threw some accusations his way. I thought I was right. I was _certain_ I was right. I told him he was selfish, that he was nothing without his suit, that he doesn’t fight for anything but himself. I told him that he’d never be a hero.”

Steve pauses. Looks down. He takes a harsh breath and when he looks up again there’s tears on his cheeks.

“I’ve never been more wrong about anything in my whole life.”

“Tony is the most selfless man I’ve ever met. He’d lay his life down in a heartbeat if he thought something good would come of it, even just saving one person. A lot of people don’t get to see him beyond his suit, but you take that away and nothing changes. He’s still the strongest man I know, the bravest, the smartest, the most determined. None of us have earned the title of hero more than he has.”

When Steve left the stage, he stopped next to a kid, unfamiliar to most. A young boy, no more than sixteen. Peter Parker. The closest thing Tony will ever get to a son. His eyes were red from weeks of tears.

“Kid, are you sure about this?” Steve asked, unheard to most.

He nodded, standing up. He looked to the stage, to the screen projected behind it. Tony’s beaming face, an arm wrapped around Pepper and Morgan held on his hip.

Peter broke, crumbling. Tears spilt from his eyes all over again as he collapsed back into his chair, shaking his head. Steve knelt down in front of him, comforting him. The audience missed the interaction, waiting patiently for the next speaker. They wouldn’t notice one missing from the programme.

There were countless other people paying their respects to Tony. Happy Hogan; Bruce Banner; Clint Barton; Nick Fury; Stephen Strange; Harley Keener; Maria Hill; Wanda Maximoff; Sam Wilson. More than can be listed. Not even just people from Earth. Tony’s reach to the rest of the universe really showed. Thor Odinson; Nebula; Rocket; Peter Quill. Every negative thing that had ever been said about him had several dozen things said to counteract it.

By the end of the service, overwhelming love was spreading. Through the city, country, and rest of the planet. Tony was being remembered in every way we knew how, and the love for him was pouring out. No one dared say a bad word about him, not so soon after his death, so soon after his sacrifice. The words would come, that was for sure. Eventually. It was bound to happen. Someone always had something to say, something negative to crush all positivity. There was a difference this time, though. Because people won’t let it stand. People will fight back, for the sake of Tony’s memory. It’s the least he deserves.

The service gets rounded off with a video. “In Memory of Tony Stark”. It’s not sad, not for mourning. It’s a celebration. Celebrating everything Tony’s accomplished, from inventing a clean energy source, to discovering a new element, to escaping terrorists, to cracking the code of time travel, to being a father, to saving the universe. All the people Tony’s saved, all the people he’s fought to save, all the risks he’s taken to ensure the safety of our universe. Everything. The lives he’s changed, even in the smallest of ways. The lives he’ll continue to change, even after his death. Tony Stark has changed the world in more ways than you could possibly count, and that’s exactly what he’ll be remembered for. That’s what the video celebrates. It doesn’t mourn him, doesn’t spread sadness and bring grief.

It brings hope.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think in the comments! It'll make me happy and love you forever


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